Capitol Perspectives

The Capitol Perspectives column is written by John McManus, president and founder of The McManus Group, a consulting firm specializing in strategic policy and political counsel and advocacy for healthcare clients with issues before Congress and the administration. Prior to founding his firm, McManus served Chairman Bill Thomas as the staff director of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, where he led the policy development, negotiations, and drafting of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003. Before working for Chairman Thomas, McManus worked for Eli Lilly & Company as a senior associate and for the Maryland House of Delegates as a research analyst.

This month, our Washington D.C. insider discusses the 340B drug discount program and the 340B Hospital Outpatient proposed rule. “Notwithstanding the hoopla over the CMS proposal, a proposed rule does not necessarily mean it will become finalized policy.”

After the House of Representatives passed The American Health Care Act — the bill that would replace Obamacare — by a razor-thin margin, consideration moved to the Senate, where Republicans have only two votes to spare to secure passage.

At a Stanford University conference last week, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney said President Trump keeps asking him what he is doing to address the high cost of pharmaceuticals.

As Republicans attempt to recover from their face-plant on repealing and replacing Obamacare, policymakers are grappling with how to address the growing problem of healthcare provider consolidation, which appears to be raising costs and undermining competition.

To understand the political peril Republicans confront in their effort to repeal and replace Obamacare, it is worth noting that many of the areas that gained the most coverage from Obamacare are the working-class districts carried by President Trump with the largest margins.

After bracing for the worst, pharmaceutical executives emerged from a White House meeting with newly installed President Donald J. Trump relatively unscathed. But they soon concluded that his ever-roving spotlight would be back on them in a matter of time.

The stunning Trump victory and the Republican hold in the Senate, giving the GOP full control over the executive and legislative branches, provides some breathing space for a pharmaceutical industry that increasingly felt under siege.

As the most bizarre and unpredictable election season draws to a close, scrutiny is turning to wikileaked emails among senior officials in the Clinton campaign licking their chops to take on the pharmaceutical industry, and healthcare policymaking by the executive branch.

Six years after the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), policymakers are just beginning to appreciate a little-known provision that essentially outsources Congress’ authority over Medicare to the executive branch.